The Who prepped Atlanta for a fond farewell

The Who has said farewell many times before, but there definitely seemed to be finality in Daltrey’s voice.

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See a gallery of more photos from the show here.

“The Who Hits 50!” hit the Arena at Gwinett Center on April 23, and provided Metro Atlanta with perhaps its final glance at one of the juggernauts of rock ’n’ roll. During the set up, the video screen provided countless Who facts including an exhaustive list of when and where they had played in Atlanta through the years as well as elaborate photo montages of the fallen Ox and Moon (which actually became more hallucinatory as the show progressed). Rather refreshingly, the band hit the stage modestly with no dimming of the lights or grandiose background music, and it took a second for the eight-piece line up to get in position. As soon as the opening chords to “Can’t Explain” kicked in, the crowd was strapped in for the ride. Almost immediately the use for eight members was warranted by the rich background vocals that were as full as the original multi-tracked recorded versions. It took Townshend a few songs to come alive as the evening’s narrator, but the details of the songs started rolling out right before “The Kids Are Alright.”


As an introduction to perhaps their most transcendental tune, “I Can See For Miles,” Townshend referenced the Dylan Thomas poem used in the movie, Interstellar: “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Upon ending the quote, he quipped, “I’ll be 70 this year, and I’m just beginning to rage!” Townshend then pulled his guitar up to his face and threatened, “So you’d better watch out!” after which he promptly bonked it across his forehead. Though the threat was idle, it was no doubt interesting to get a sense of that relationship with his instruments.

Against the contrast of ’60s mod dance hall footage on the big screen, Roger Daltrey nailed the amphetamine stutter of “My Generation,” which helped propel the feeling of jumping out of one’s skin the tune always seems to engender. “Magic Bus” certainly loosened up the crowd with its propulsive Bo Diddley beat, and Daltrey delivered some fine harmonica work. During the call and response bit between the two, Townshend cracked, “I’ll give you the Magic Bus — if you can tell me what the fuck this song is about!” Interestingly, as the song kicked into double time and sped up, there seemed to be some type of miscue between drummer Zak Starkey and the band, and the group set the song down into a cosmic rock ’n’ roll sting with Daltrey throwing his arms up at Townshend. The band rode a crescendo until all seemed intentional, and perhaps it was. Either way, it was great to see a band still playing live and not locked-in to a metronome.

A break in the action of non-stop upbeat numbers came just when a reprieve was needed in the form of “I’m One” and “Love Reign O’er Me,” which tagged right into their funkiest cut, “Eminence Front.” “A Quick One While He’s Away” truly separated the believers from the casual observers as it seemed to prove challenging to the weak at heart so late in the set list, yet enticed the biggest fans with their most intense air drumming of the evening. The climax was of course “Baba O’Reilly” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” after which Daltrey concluded, “Be happy, be healthy, and most important, be lucky. Goodnight and Goodbye.”

The Who has said farewell many times before, but there definitely seemed to be finality in Daltrey’s voice. And though the group will undoubtedly do one offs in major cities after this tour, this was more than likely their final stop in our neck of the woods, and it was a proper adieu.